Category Archives: Gresham News

The Gresham team has bought a bumper crop of presents this year for a local children’s charity in our annual Christmas campaign. In this fourth year of supporting Wythenshawe Barnardo’s Children’s Centres, we have been able to buy gifts for 13 children to hopefully bring some festive cheer on Christmas Day.

Our festive charity gift campaign started in 2014 after Samantha, who is a Paraplanner on our technical team, suggested that instead of spending money on novelty gifts for each other, we combined our secret Santa spend to contribute to a more meaningful cause.

Wanting to keep things local, we found Wythenshawe Barnardo’s Children’s Centres. Each year, the Barnardo’s teams at the Children’s Centres in Wythenshawe supply us a list of children from disadvantaged backgrounds, along with their ages. One afternoon in the run up to Christmas, our team go out shopping to buy gifts for each of the children listed. The gifts are then delivered to the children by the Barnardo’s team in Wythenshawe in time for Christmas Day.

This year, with a little help from Gresham’s Directors, our charitable fund was £500, which allowed us to buy gifts for 13 children. In addition, this year we were also able to buy some essential food and drink items to top up the food banks also based at the various Barnardo’s Children’s Centres in Wythenshawe.

Morven Millar, Director at Gresham, commented:

“This is the fifth year we’ve supported our local Barnardo’s Children’s Centres and it’s a tradition we’re proud to be able to uphold. Our team love getting involved and going to buy the gifts for the children, who might otherwise not receive anything at Christmas time.

“Amongst the hustle and bustle of this time of the year, we should all take a moment to reflect on how lucky we are and spare a thought, a bit of money and some time for those that are less fortunate”.

We’re delighted to announce that as of 2nd October, we have a new Financial Planner in our team. Daniel Ardern recently attained Chartered IFA status and has been promoted to the role of Financial Planner. Having previously held the role of Paraplanner within Gresham’s technical team after joining us in January 2016, Daniel has been working towards achieving Chartered status over the past 18 months.

Daniel will advise clients across all aspects of financial planning, including investments, pensions, retirement planning and protection. His promotion takes the number of full time advisers at Gresham to four.

Director Morven Millar, Director, commented:

“Daniel has done an excellent job studying for his qualification whilst also dealing with a demanding job as a Paraplanner. We’re really delighted that he’s now qualified and can begin to build his own client base to allow the business to grow further.

“We now have two Chartered Financial Planners under the age of 35 at Gresham – something we’re very proud of. Having advisers of the next generation has always been important to us as a firm and we look forward to supporting Daniel into the next stage of his career.”

Daniel commented:

“Qualifying as a Chartered Financial Planner is a big milestone for me as it’s something I’ve been working towards for many years. I’m really grateful to have had the support of the Directors at Gresham, who from the start have encouraged me in my ambitions and paved the way for me to achieve them.

“I’ve got an excellent platform to build upon now and I’m excited about what the next few years has in store.”

After what has been a fascinating year in politics, both at home and overseas, we’re delighted to be holding a new Masterclass later in the month to reflect recent events and their impact. Following on from his visit in June last year prior to the Brexit referendum, we’re delighted to be welcoming Alastair Irvine back to Gresham on Wednesday 21st June. Taking a look at the significant political events of the last 12 months, Alastair’s presentation will give an overview of the economic impact of the following:

Brexit – one year on

Article 50: the UK position

The changing face of European politics

Trump: a riddle inside a mystery inside an enigma?

Trump’s economic agenda

The Trump Trade

Finally, Alastair will discuss the prospects for inflation, interest rates, and equity and bond markets.

As an engaging and charismatic speaker in addition to being one of the UK’s leading economists, we’re sure that the session will be one all those in attendance will both enjoy and glean useful information from.

The event is open to all professionals to attend free of charge. As ever, we will be holding 2 sessions on the day to accommodate professional contacts – a breakfast session and one over lunch.

We have already had a significant number of registrations, so if you are interested in attending, please do get in touch at the earliest opportunity.

In January Morven Millar, Director at Gresham, was lucky enough to take a trip to Budapest. Whilst there, she took the time to pay a visit to Gresham Palace – the place that inspired the Gresham Wealth Management name!

Now a Four Seasons Hotel with panoramic vistas of the Danube and the hills of Buda, Gresham Palace (Gresham-Palota) was named after the 16th-century English financier Sir Thomas Gresham, the palace is a stunning example of Art Nouveau architecture in the heart of Budapest. Completed in 1906 for the London Gresham Life Assurance Society, the site of the building was acquired by the British based insurers at a time when it was illegal to invest money in stocks, but rental income was a wise investment!

It was a visit to Hungary’s capital that gave Morven the idea for the firm’s name some seven years or so ago. Struggling to come up with a name at the time, Jonathan and Morven both agreed that the unique architecture of Gresham Palace, along with its interesting history rooted in the world of finance, ideally represented their new firm.

You’ll even find an image of the building in Gresham’s offices – serving as a reminder of where it all began.

Here are a couple of photos of Morven’s return visit to the Gresham-Palota.

We are delighted to announce that a date and topic have been set for the first of our Professional Masterclass events to be held in 2017. Taking place on Thursday 23rd February, the session will look at the topic of risk from two perspectives.

To take us through what is set to be a stimulating and thought-provoking session, we will be welcoming James Clunie from Jupiter Asset Management and Alex Wheelan from Vanguard Asset Management as our speakers.

To start us off, James Clunie will be discussing how utilising long/short investment strategies can assist in managing investment risk. James, who is Head of Strategy at Jupiter and manages their Absolute Return Fund, will explain the concept of taking short and long positions in the market along with the theory of when and how the strategy works.

To follow, Alex Wheelan will direct our attention to the fascinating topic of investor behaviour in relation to risk. As an authority in the area of behavioural finance, Alex will discuss the role of risk in financial decision making, revealing the cognitive and emotional biases when choosing investments and how these can influence outcomes.

CPD Points

Accountants and solicitors alike will benefit from attending the Masterclass; gaining a valuable insight for themselves and their clients. As Gresham is a CPD accredited organisation, all professionals in attendance will qualify for 1.5 CPD points.

For further information about other Masterclasses we have held and to view feedback from previous attendees, please see our recent article.

Event Timings

Due to oversubscription at previous events, we will be running two sessions during the day – one in the morning over breakfast and the other at lunchtime.

We have already had a number or pre-registrations for this event and as the first Masterclass of the year, we anticipate that demand will be high. As places are limited, we would advise getting in touch with us early in order to secure your place.

For more information or to book on to either the morning or afternoon session, please contact us.

CPD training for professionals

Gresham Wealth Management is one of the few financial planning firms in the North West that are registered to deliver CPD training. Committed to supporting fellow professionals with their ongoing professional development and understanding of key financial planning measures, our team have delivered training to over 350 accountants and solicitors in the region. Not only do these sessions help to keep you and your team ‘in the know’ on current legislation, they also help to identify potential benefits to your firm and your clients.
Get in touch with us to discuss arranging a tailor made session for you and your team.

Keyman Protection

The death or prolonged illness of a key employee can put your business under financial strain. Keyman insurance compensates a business for the financial loss brought about by death or long term illness of a key employee.

It provides a valuable cash injection to the business which can help with a potential loss of turnover and/or to provide funds to replace the key person.

Shareholder/Partnership Protection

One of the great risks of a partnership or limited company is that one of your colleagues may die, with their share of the business passing to someone else. That person may have little interest in the business or be unable to meet the requirements of running the business. Equally a partner or shareholder who suffers a serious illness may not want to continue in the business after treatment and look to be compensated for their exit from the business.

Personal Injury Trusts

Without a personal injury trust in place, you can lose entitlement to present and future means-tested state benefits, including local authority contributions to the cost of long-term care.
We offer simple, jargon free advice to check if a personal injury trust is required on receipt of a claim, generally at no cost to you.

Retirement Planning

Retirement Planning is a complex area which means different things to different people. How you plan for retirement can be wide and varied, but it must be planned for well in advance.

You may have existing pension plans in place, like a company pension or personal pension plan or perhaps you’re just starting to save. Whatever your situation, Gresham Wealth Management Ltd can provide the right advice to create a retirement plan that’s tailor-made for you.

Ask the Experts…

Client Testimonials

We feel we can phone at any time during office hours if we need anything clarifying. Our financial adviser knows our personal circumstances and is in tune with our goals and lifestyle. His advice has been and continues to be excellent.

We are both very grateful for the time you spent with us in explaining various options. We certainly feel we now both have a much better understanding of our situation & the decisions which we need to consider moving forward.

With great thanks for all your reassuring attention over the last year. It means more to me than I can express in a few words.

Thanks again for your advice, you have given me the kick I needed to take control and I’m very grateful for that.

You’ve solved that dilemma for me… Thank you for being so clear and honest as always.

A very personalised service… All advice is tailored to my needs with great consideration to issues I may not have thought of myself. I feel confident about my future finances.

Before I chose Gresham I spoke to a number of IFA’s but none of them gave me the same confidence I had when I spoke to Morven. Everything, both written and spoken, is explained in an easy to understand way. All my pensions have been dealt with extremely efficiently and I am very happy with the service I have received from everyone at Gresham.

Thank you so much again for your time and brilliant advice.

Just a big thank you for all you have done for our family. We do appreciate it.

I just want to thank you and your team so very much for all you do for me throughout the year. It is a real comfort to know that my investments are in such capable hands. I literally couldn’t do it on my own.